Glossary

AsanaĀsana

An asana is a yoga posture — the physical shape you take and hold — and the word originally meant the seat you sat on to practise.

Ashtanga yogaAṣṭāṅga

Ashtanga is a demanding style in which a fixed sequence of postures is practised in the same order every time, linked by breath and by a set vinyasa count.

Bandha

A bandha is an internal muscular lock — most commonly a lift of the pelvic floor or lower abdomen — used to stabilise the torso and control the breath.

Bikram yoga

Bikram yoga is a fixed 90-minute sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises, always in the same order, in a room at around 40 °C.

Binaural beats

Binaural beats are an auditory effect in which two slightly different tones, one in each ear, are perceived as a single tone pulsing at the difference between them.

Breathwork

Breathwork is the modern umbrella term for any practice that uses a deliberately altered breathing pattern to change how you feel.

ChakraCakra

A chakra is one of the energy centres described along the spine in Indian yogic and tantric texts, used as a map of attention rather than as an anatomical structure.

DrishtiDṛṣṭi

Drishti is a fixed gaze point held during a posture, used to steady balance and keep attention from wandering around the room.

Gong bath

A gong bath is a sound session built around one or more large gongs, whose sound is loud and physical enough to be felt on the skin rather than only heard.

Hatha yogaHaṭha

Hatha yoga is the physical branch of yoga, and on a modern timetable it means a slower class where postures are held for several breaths rather than flowed through.

Hot yoga

Hot yoga is any yoga class practised in a room deliberately heated to roughly 32–40 °C, often with added humidity.

Mantra

A mantra is a word, sound or short phrase repeated aloud or silently to hold attention in one place.

MeditationDhyāna

Meditation is the deliberate training of attention, usually by resting it on one chosen object such as the breath and returning to it each time the mind wanders.

MindfulnessSmṛti

Mindfulness is the ongoing practice of noticing what is happening right now — in the body, the breath or the surroundings — without immediately judging it.

MudraMudrā

A mudra is a deliberate gesture, usually of the hands, used to shape attention during breathing, meditation or a held posture.

Nadi shodhanaNāḍī Śodhana

Nadi shodhana is alternate nostril breathing: you close one nostril at a time with the fingers, so inhale and exhale swap sides in a steady cycle.

Namaste

Namaste is a Hindi and Sanskrit greeting meaning roughly I bow to you, used in India as everyday politeness rather than as a spiritual formula.

OmOṃ

Om is a single syllable chanted as a sustained tone, used in Indian traditions to open or close a practice and to give the voice and breath one simple shared task.

PranaPrāṇa

Prana is the Sanskrit term for breath understood as vital energy — the force that yogic tradition says moves through the body and is trained through breathing practice.

PranayamaPrāṇāyāma

Pranayama is the deliberate control of the breath — its length, its pace and its pauses — used as a practice in its own right rather than as an accompaniment to movement.

Restorative yoga

Restorative yoga is a passive practice in which the body is fully supported by props in a few simple shapes held for five to twenty minutes.

SankalpaSaṅkalpa

A sankalpa is a short, clearly worded intention set at the start of a practice and returned to during it.

SavasanaŚavāsana

Savasana, or corpse pose, is the final posture of a class: lying flat on your back, completely still, letting the body absorb the practice.

Singing bowl

A singing bowl is a metal or crystal bowl that produces a long sustained tone when struck or when a mallet is dragged around its rim.

Sound bath

A sound bath is a session in which you lie still while a practitioner plays sustained live instruments such as bowls and a gong around the room for around an hour.

Surya namaskarSūrya Namaskāra

Surya namaskar, the sun salutation, is a short set sequence of linked postures repeated at the start of a class to warm the whole body.

Tibetan bowl

A Tibetan bowl is a hand-hammered metal alloy singing bowl from the Himalayan region, whose uneven walls give it a dense, rough, long-lasting tone.

Ujjayi breathingUjjāyī

Ujjayi is a breathing technique in which the throat is slightly narrowed so that each nose breath makes a soft, steady sound you can hear and pace yourself by.

VinyasaVinyāsa

Vinyasa is a style of yoga in which each movement is matched to one breath, so the postures link together into a continuous sequence.

Yin yoga

Yin yoga is a slow style in which mostly seated or lying postures are held passively for three to five minutes to load connective tissue rather than muscle.